Posted 3 years ago on April 18, 2013, 6:01 p.m. EST by GirlFriday
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Many of SEIU Local 1's 8,000 Chicago security officers make only $10 an hour, or about $20,000 a year, according to the union. (Working In These Times spoke with five security officers at the rally who make between $14 and $15 an hour.) Yet the downtown office and luxury residential buildings where they work house multinational companies and some of the city’s wealthiest residents and visitors.

“We have low wage jobs, but we secure buildings for corporations making billions,” says Rita Young, a mother of five and grandmother of 13 who makes $11.05 an hour after years in the business. “We are the first responders putting our lives on the line every day.”

“We are the eyes and ears of the city,” security officer Derrick N. Mathis, 39, says.